- Every chick deserves a mother: one man’s crazy dream for how chickens deserve to be raised.
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Recent Posts
- Red Dawn January 14, 2021
- Is It Still Winter? January 12, 2021
- Winter Skies January 4, 2021
- Happy New Year! January 1, 2021
- Stories Untold December 28, 2020
- Blink and You’ve Missed It December 22, 2020
- Chatty Mud Birds December 20, 2020
- Getting the Mail December 10, 2020
- Soothing is Good December 5, 2020
- When Life Returns to Normal, I’ll Miss Blue Skies December 1, 2020
- Blue Skies in November November 21, 2020
- Sunshine Is Just Beyond the Clouds November 17, 2020
- Winter Returns to the Hills November 14, 2020
- A Squirrel’s Fate November 8, 2020
- November at Last November 3, 2020
- November 1 and No Swans November 1, 2020
- First Frost October 23, 2020
- Too Wet to Burn October 18, 2020
- Eyes Wide Shut October 13, 2020
- The End of Flowers October 11, 2020
- 20201010 October 10, 2020
- Am I Growing the Wrong Grapes? October 6, 2020
- Fog and Less Fog October 5, 2020
- First Blush of Fall September 29, 2020
- A Perfect Fall Day September 27, 2020
- Blue Sky to Rain to Shaggy Parasol September 26, 2020
- Six Short Weeks September 24, 2020
- 317 Days for a Miracle September 23, 2020
- We Can Breathe Again September 22, 2020
- You Can’t Help But Be Sad September 13, 2020
- Duck Serenity September 6, 2020
- August is Coming to an End August 28, 2020
- It’s Easier with Another August 21, 2020
- Hottest Day of the Year August 16, 2020
- Morning Surprise August 12, 2020
- After the Rains August 8, 2020
- An August Morning August 2, 2020
- August Evening August 1, 2020
- When You Are Insane July 21, 2020
- Summer Is Here July 18, 2020
- It Blooms, It Dies July 15, 2020
- A Cool Start to Summer July 7, 2020
- Each Flower Has Its Own Strategy June 29, 2020
- Disaster Averted June 19, 2020
- Cool, Wet June June 10, 2020
- The End of May May 31, 2020
- Newer, Bigger, Better May 22, 2020
- Summer in May May 13, 2020
- Apple Blossoms and Magical Shoots May 2, 2020
- Where is Kaku 隠? April 27, 2020
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Tag Archives: Birds
Five Blossoms
Five open blossoms is what it takes for the meteorologists in Japan to proclaim that the cherry blossoms have bloomed in a city. In each city, there is one tree which is declared the reference tree, and when five blossoms … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Tagged Agriculture, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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First Brood?
Most chickens are hatched in large commercial incubators. Here at a man and his hoe® we do things very differently. Even though it is still cool, spring is in the air. The robins are active, calling for mates. The thimble … Continue reading
Maple or Ina?
It’s easy to tell chickens apart when they are as different as Ina and Maple. But how does one tell chickens apart when they look very similar? Chickens of the same breed have slight variations in their color, shape, size, … Continue reading
Snow Day
We woke up to five inches of fluffy snow. Not the chickens favorite weather. Fortunately, the forecast is for much warmer weather tomorrow and the rest of the week, so the snow will be gone soon. When it’s cold and … Continue reading
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Tagged Agriculture, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Growing Up Is Hard
Life is full of challenges. Things are always changing. Nothing stays the same. And it’s as true for chicks as it is for us. The Milky Way galaxy we live in is moving at some 1,350,000 miles an hour through … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Surprises Every Day
When you let your chickens run free, you never know what they will do or where they will go. A few days ago I heard a rattling in the shed we use to store hay and straw, and where our … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Never Enough Nests?
It’s not that there aren’t enough nests, it’s that hens want to use the same nest. Some days I’ll go to the coop to check out what all the cackling is about, only to see one hen on a nest, … Continue reading
A Chick Grows Up
Words lack the capability to describe the love and care a mother hen showers on her chicks. You have to see it to understand how important mother hens are to chicks. Born at the end of November, the chick at … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Happiness, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Edible Recycled Chicken Manure
So what happens to chicken manure when it is reincarnated? It turns into edible wonders, like these over wintering onions I pulled this morning. Most chicken farmers get rid of their egg laying hens by the time they have gone … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Staying Warm
These chicks are seven weeks and still have a ways to go before they are independent. Many broiler chicks have already been butchered by the time they are this old, and most only have another week or two before they … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Good Food
Good food makes all the difference in the world. And when it comes to eggs, it’s impossible to produce good eggs by the millions. To produce an egg as round and bright as the sun, a hen needs good food, … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens
Tagged Agriculture, Birds, Eggs, Humanely raised chicken
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Japanese Chicken Varieties
The lack of varieties of chickens sold in supermarkets in the US is rather surprising. Some stores make distinctions between organic versus conventional, pastured versus broiler chickens, but rarely do you see a selection of a variety of chicken breeds … Continue reading
Six Week Old Chicks – A Long Way to Go
When you watch these small six week old chicks running around with their mother, it’s hard to imagine that many broiler chickens are six pounds and ready to be butchered by six weeks. How is that possible? What happens to … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Sven a Swedish Flower Chicken
The Swedish Flower Chicken is a landrace chicken that developed in Sweden. Landrace is a breed which has developed over time by adapting to the natural and cultural environment in which it lives. Swedish Flower Chickens are colorful birds. No … Continue reading
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Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Each Chicken Is Unique
Each chicken is unique. Each chicken has its own face, its own personality. You can see their personality develop as chicks. Among siblings, there are outgoing chicks, quiet ones, curious ones, timid ones. As they grow, their personalities develop and … Continue reading
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Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Humanely raised chicken
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Learning How to Bathe
Chickens are born knowing how to take dirt baths, but when they get to learn this behavior from their mother, they sure enjoy it.
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Nest at the Top of a Stump
Chickens are always looking for great places to build a nest. Yesterday I heard a white Bresse cackling by the side of a ten foot tall stump. I climbed up to the top and found a nest with eight eggs. … Continue reading
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Tagged Agriculture, Birds, Chicken, Humanely raised chicken
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Hazel’s Egg
Every hen lays a special egg. To lay wonderful eggs, chickens need good food, plenty of exercise, and a quiet place to sit.
Posted in About My Chickens
Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Chicken, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Never a Dull Moment
With chickens, there is never a dull moment. It’s a sunny, January morning. The hens in the nesting boxes are sounding an alarm. Minutes later, all is calm. Outside, the chickens are enjoying the winter sun. Chickens are constantly on … Continue reading
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Tagged Agriculture, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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Dirt Bath in the Sun
On a sunny day, chickens enjoy taking dust and dirt baths. They can really kick up a storm, turning upside down even to work dust and dirt deep into their feathers and onto their skin. They do this to clean … Continue reading
Posted in About My Chickens, Raising Chicks
Tagged Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Humanely raised chicken, Raising chickens
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